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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28473123">Don't Be Afraid</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveCrimson/pseuds/DetectiveCrimson'>DetectiveCrimson</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pencember 2020 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fable (Video Games), Fable 2 (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bowerstone Hero is M in this and has default name, Brightwall hero is called Rose, F/M, Queen is throwaway character because who cares?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:22:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28473123</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveCrimson/pseuds/DetectiveCrimson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A telling of King Sparrow's last heroic act.<br/>It's a good day to die.</p><p>[Pencember Challenge Day 18 - Prompt; 'Ice.']</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pencember 2020 [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037226</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Don't Be Afraid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a short one-shot for a challenge my writing group—only two members including myself, feel free to apply—came up with called Pencember, its basically Inktober but writing.</p><p>If you want to take part, you can find the prompt list here -&gt; http://aminoapps.com/p/845jwp &lt;-<br/>That said, if you do take part, let me know so I can read your works!<br/>____________________________________________________</p><p>I've been playing games, I have no real defense, don't judge me, I also wrote eleven one-shots and proof-read (using Grammarly, because I didn't have time or patience to read through them all,) twenty-seven in one day.<br/>____________________________________________________</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Hero of Bowerlake was renowned for many reasons-<br/>Yes, he was the King, but more importantly- he was a *hero.*<br/>People looked to him as a beacon of what once was, and what could be.<br/>He was loved by his subjects, surprisingly, and despite his many mistakes and faults.</p><p>It was only a few years into his rule that his people began to question when he'd marry.<br/>It was only because of his good ally Walter that he eventually addressed their pleading and prodding, finally marrying, ensuring that there would be a legacy to continue the work he did for Albion.<br/>When his first child was born, he was beside himself with happiness, only to see it dashed when Theresa appeared to him in a dream, sharing another vision she had an extended one of the first she had shown him.<br/>Logan wouldn't be the child to 'unite,' Albion, in fact, Theresa even entertained the idea that he could be a danger to it-<br/>But Sparrow, for once in his life, ignored the woman, locking away what she had said in the back of his mind as he loved his son to the fullest.</p><p>Much to the people's joy, another child came in the form of Rose, a little bundle of danger, or so the castle staff began to refer to her.<br/>As she grew, in her little years, she terrorized the staff in the only way a well-meaning- but playful- child could.<br/>Sparrow had finally found a way to calm the child in the form of a puppy, the child insisting she could take care of it, and maturing as a result.<br/>Yet, to everyone's relief, she still 'ruled,' the castle.<br/>All while Logan shadowed his father, learning how to be king, and reveling in the focused attention the King gave him, compared to his younger sister.</p><p>But despite the years that stacked on him, Sparrow was still a hero, still an adventurer at heart-<br/>Often the King would handle many issues himself, if he had little responsibility in the castle.<br/>When he first married, he had almost completely stopped leaving, but after only a year, had resumed, leaving the Castle whenever he could find time-<br/>Again, when Logan was first born, he had stopped, resuming, and then stopping again with Rose-<br/>Since Rose's birth, he had, to everyone's knowledge, completely stopped leaving Bowerstone, more specifically, stopped leaving the Castle.</p><p>But when Logan was only twelve years of age, a disaster struck Albion, and the Royal family.<br/>A traveler appeared at the castle gates, fainting from exhaustion-<br/>When he woke, he pleaded for an audience with the King, which, he was granted.<br/>He claimed that Westcliff had been completely destroyed by Balverine, and that the creatures were accumulating near Brightwood road-<br/>A few packs traveling elsewhere wasn't a huge deal, they did it often, but the traveler, with frightened eyes, explained that it was all but a horde that would be scurrying through Brightwood.<br/>The King had the traveler taken care of, being ordering a group of soldiers to dispatch the horde.</p><p>They had only waited a few days, when one of the soldiers returned, covered in injuries and blood-<br/>He died in bed, but only after delivering the urgent message needed.<br/>The soldiers had been slaughtered.<br/>As a last attempt to stop the Balverine in their tracks, the King himself announced he would handle the issue himself.He took a group of soldiers with him, bidding farewell to his wife and children, and after witnessing his closest ally, Walter, swear to protect them, he left the safety of Bowerstone.</p><p>In the dead of winter, they dressed as heavily as they could without impeding their movement.<br/>Much to Sparrow's horror, the Balverine had already traversed into the Bower Lake area.<br/>And in the place he first began his adventure- he fought against the horde with his men.<br/>Though many of the soldiers had fallen, with the assistance of a Hero, they had all but succeeded in eradicating the threat, when it happened.<br/>One of the Balverine had gone to attack one of the few soldiers standing, and the Hero, in an attempt to spare as many of his soldiers as possible, had tackled the Balverine away.<br/>The two landed on the iced-over lake, the impact of their weight crushing it and pushing them both under.<br/>Though at first Sparrow attempted to get out of the water, the ice kept him from doing so, and he quickly found himself incapable of continuing, the cold water draining his fighting spirit.</p><p>As he swayed motionless in the water, body tired and bleeding, he saw his life flash before him-<br/>His childhood, full of misfortune, the first years of his adventures, the spire, his family, so much agonizing pain with so little love-<br/>But his last thoughts were of the family he knew would mourn his loss, of his wife, of Logan, of Rose-<br/>No longer able to continue holding on, his eyes slid closed slowly, blooding spilling across the water and flowing around him.<br/>"It's alright little Sparrow, don't be afraid."</p>
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